3 1/2 years old

Sensory Writing Tray

07:30

Ethan is at such a fun age, he's like a little sponge learning new things every day!  We still have to keep things fun, that is really important, especially with things like reading and writing as it's so easy to push to hard and put children off something that they could really learn to love.  So we have been teaching Ethan to write his name with a pencil and paper, but we're also doing fun things like playing with this sensory writing tray.



This tray can be prepared so simply that anyone can set it up in minutes for some writing and mark making at home.  I used a simple serving tray (though if you have one with higher sides that would be preferable for less spillage) and then add a sensory material of your choice.  Salt is a very popular choice, but today we used lentils as we happened to have a bag of them that needed to be used.  Any other fine material would also work, you could try couscous, rice, sand, oats or so many other options.  Each material would give a slightly different feel and experience for the child.


I made some little cards with different types of lines on them for Ethan to copy.  One was a zig zag line and one was a wavy line.  I was so impressed by how well Ethan was able to look at the card and duplicate the pattern on the tray.  I also wrote out his name on a card, which as you can see from the first photo he was able to write so well, I was completely blown away!


I also asked him to draw shapes for me, this photo is of him drawing circles.  He then had some fun drawing different pictures and designs of his choosing.  He really was taken by the sensory tray and sat for ages just moving the lentils around with his fingers, we will definitely be doing a lot more of this with different materials to get him more excited about learning to write!


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2 comments

  1. I love the idea of using lentils! Pinned it to my Kids Sensory Play board.
    Hey, come on over to my blog for today's Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop and share this??? We have lots of readers who will love it :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, I'll head over to your blog hop now :)

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